The following is an unedited transcript of the news release from Hong Kong Monetary Authority, HK.


The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Thursday) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$193.4 billion at the end of April 2009 (end-March 2009: US$186.3 billion).



Including unsettled forward contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of April 2009 stood at US$194.0 billion (end-March 2009: US$186.3 billion).



Hong Kong is the world’s seventh largest holder of foreign currency reserves based on the latest published figures, after Mainland China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, India and Korea .



The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$193.4 billion represent about eight times the currency in circulation or 45% of Hong Kong dollar M3.


Available at:

http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/press/press_f.htm